Method and apparatus for distributing soil amendments

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for dispensing aggregates for lawn improvement. Aggregates are delivered to the site in a primary dispensing vehicle, which is configured to allow a smaller secondary dispensing vehicle to be loaded with the aggregate directly from the primary vehicle. The process includes aerating the soil, distributing a variety of soil amendments evenly over the area to be treated and then dragging a unique drag mat over the area to make a smooth contour and to even the distribution of the aggregate.

This application Ser. No. 10/644,017 is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 10/341,251, filed on Jan. 14, 2003, now abandoned, which is adivisional of application Ser. No. 09/759,270, filed on Jan. 16, 2001,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,447.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, in general, to a method and apparatus formaintaining and improving the growth density of turf grass root systemsin residential lawns, commercial lawns, athletic fields, recreationalareas including golf courses and agricultural fields used for cattlegrazing or hay production.

The invention described and claimed provides a more efficient and costeffective way of applying a variety of naturally occurring mineral basedaggregates and soil amendments in a system which greatly improves thegrowing conditions for ornamental grass areas. In addition, theapparatus disclosed for these applications is of a unique design, whichgreatly improves growing conditions of grass turf and other plantingmaterials by increasing the depth and density of the plant's rootsystem. In addition, the efficiency of the process can be seenparticularly in the application of granular aggregates as well ascompost, fertilizer and other soil amendments.

To improve the appearance of an ornamental lawn it is desirable toeliminate the harmful effects of the thatch of dead grass and clippingswhich accumulate during the life of the lawn. In the past, this wasaccomplished by “dethatching” using power rakes or hand rakes to loosenthe thatch and then raking the thatch from the lawn and disposing of itin a land fill or other dumping areas. This operation is time consumingas well as labor intensive. Since lawn improvements are most effectiveif carried out during the peak growing season, the labor described aboveis, of necessity done in hot and often humid weather conditions.

Another step in the traditional methods of lawn improvements is todeliver any materials to be applied to the lawn by truck and dump themin a pile on the site. Next, the material must be shoveled intowheelbarrows or distribution apparatus to be applied to the lawn. Again,the process is labor intensive and must be done under adverse weatherconditions. If the shoveling task is to be avoided in the presentsystems, a front-end loader or similar machine must be trucked to thesite for loading the distribution machine and picked up after the job isfinished; another time consuming and costly event for the contractor.

The present invention also discloses a system including the order ofapplication of various aggregates and amendments, which give the optimumgrowing conditions for ornamental grasses. If certain soil amendmentsare applied in the wrong sequence in the process or are not coveredquickly by the next application, their effectiveness is diminished ortotally lost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by improving theefficiency of distribution of the materials to be applied to the lawn aswell as using a specific order of application and selection ofmaterials, which may be varied according to site conditions.

With the present invention any materials which are to be spread on thearea are delivered to the site in a unique vehicle which allows thematerials to be loaded directly into the final distribution machinethereby eliminating the labor intensive shoveling as well as speeding upthe time for completing the job.

After application of the materials, they are smoothed using a uniquedrag screen which spreads the material evenly over the treated area andleaves a smooth eye-appealing surface.

Finally, this system disclosed herein provides a systematic method forapplying the materials in the order that will give the most benefit tothe growing area treated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of the primary material distribution vehicle andthe secondary distribution vehicle in the loading position.

FIG. 2 is a view of the discharge end of the vehicle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the drag mat of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a view of the drag mat of FIG. 3 in operation.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate the size and spacing of aeration holes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown generally at 10, the primarydelivery vehicle for the system. The vehicle comprises a basic truckframe for a truck having a total vehicle gross weight of 16,000 t033,000 pounds. The vehicle is equipped with a hopper type body 11 havingsloping sides 13 to allow the load to be fueled toward the bottom of thehopper as the load is dispensed. Extending from the rear of the truck isthe dispensing mechanism 23. Note that the dispensing mechanism 23 islocated approximately four feet above the ground so that a topdressingvehicle 22 can be backed under the dispenser 23 for loading. This willbe described in more detail below.

The dispensing mechanism 23 consists of a chain link conveyer of anyknown type. The chain link conveyer runs the entire length of the lowersurface of the hopper 11. The chain link conveyer is activated by a pairof hydraulic motors 14 supplied with high-pressure hydraulic fluid froma pump driven by a power-takeoff from the truck engine. The pump speedis controlled by an electronic control panel 12 on the side of theapparatus 10. Aggregate 20 is released from the hopper type body 11 byopening a gate 16 which is opened by a hydraulic piston 18 controlled bythe electronic control panel 12. The rate of delivery of aggregate canbe controlled by regulating the speed of the motors 14, by adjusting theopening of the gate 16 and by the speed of the vehicle truck enginewhich powers the power take-off feeding the hydraulic pump.

The cab 22 is shown backed up to the dispensing mechanism 23 of theprimary delivery vehicle loaded with aggregate 20. The cab 22 has at itsrear end a hopper 24 (FIG. 2) for receiving the aggregate 20. Note thatthe hopper 24 of the cab 22 moves under the raised dispensing mechanism23 of the hopper type body 11. The cab 22 is of any commerciallyavailable machine and includes hopper 24 and a dispenser 26. The cab 22,hopper 24 and dispenser 26 together form a topdresser. The cab 22 is apower-driven vehicle similar in size to a standard golf cart on whichthe hopper 24 and dispensing 26 are mounted.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a more close-up view of thedispensing 26 of the primary delivery vehicle. Again, the hopper typebody 11 is opened by use of the gate 16 operated by the hydrauliccylinder 18. As can be seen, the aggregate 20 falls from the conveyer ofthe dispensing mechanism 23 directly into the hopper 24 of thetopdresser. The advantages of this combination of apparatus allows thetopdresser to be loaded directly from the primary delivery vehiclerather than having the primary load dumped in a pile on the site andthen shoveled into the topdresser by hand, thus eliminating asubstantial amount of labor and its associated costs. Using theequipment and method of this invention, a single operator can load ¾ toone ton of aggregate into the hopper of the topdresser in about 20seconds after engaging the conveyer switch at the control panel 12.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a detail drawing of the drag matused in the practice of this invention. The leading edge of the mat 30is made of a hardened steel bar approximately ⅜″ square. A frame 34 is arectangle 3′6″ long and 2″4″ wide made of angle iron of about 1″×1″. Inthe area enclosed by the frame a flexible chain link material isfastened. At the front edge of the mat there is attached two loops 38 towhich is attached to a cable or chain 40. The cable or chain is joinedat its distal end by a ring or other suitable means 42 for hooking themat to a vehicle when it is to be used in the method. FIG. 4 shows themat in operation. The detailed function of the mat will be describedmore fully in the description of the operation of the system.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show specified area of soil 44 to be treated, and thegeneral plan for spacing, size and depth of aeration holes made in thefirst step of the method. “a” dimension indicates the core diameter,while the “e” and “f” dimensions indicate the center to center spacingof the cores, and the “d” dimension indicates the depth of the cores.The choice of these dimensions depends on the conditions set forth inTable 1 below.

In this first aerating step, a mechanized aerator unit is first sprayedwith a cleansing solution to eliminate contamination from pathogens fromprevious applications. This cleansing step prevents the spread of turfgrass diseases from one application site to another. The mechanizedaerator unit is one that is adjusted for size, density and depth of coreaccording to the information on Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Aeration core spacing spacing dia. length inches on densityinches inches center cores per Soil Type (a) (d) (f) M sq. ft. Heavyclay - clean  ¾″ 3.0″ 3′  6,000 Heavy clay - sandy ⅝ 2.5 2.25 23,000Sandy Loam ½ 2.5 2.25 23,000 Sand ⅜ 3.0 2.25 23,000 Loam ⅝ 3.0 2.2516,000 Topsoil - clean ¾ 2.5 2.25 23,000 All soils - containing rock ¾4.5 6.25  7,000 All soils - lightly ¾ 4.5 6.25  7,000 Compacted

The second step which is an optional step is to apply an even coating ofa mycorrhizal fungus such as basidomycete (Coprinus macorhizus). Much ofthe fungus, which is spread in a powdered or pellet form, will fall intothe aeration holes. This type of fungus forms a closely woven massaround the roots of the existing grass and may even penetrate the rootstructure enhancing the root system depth of growth and density ofgrowth. An additional option in this second step is the application offertilizer in pellet form. The selection of fertilizer blend ofnitrogen, phosphate and potash is dependent on turf type, soilconditions and environmental conditions.

The next step is to spread an aggregate material, commonly calledtopdressing, over the area. The aggregate must be spread quickly afterthe application of the fungus (within 30 minutes) since the fungus willbe damaged by exposure to the air for an extended period of time. Thisaggregate is preferably, a mixure of river washed sand of sieve size 33with no more than 5% of fines sand, composted organic materials as wellas other naturally occurring soil amendments, the selection of which aredictated by the soil conditions and environment. This application ofaggregate material will, at least partially, fill the aeration holesthus protecting the fungus from deterioration as well as lightening thegeneral character of the soil. This is particularly true when the basiccomposition of the soil is clay or other soil, which resists theabsorption of water and other nutrients. The sand will absorb water andnutrients and feed the grass roots needed amendments applied in the nextstep of the process.

After the sand has been spread, the entire area is dragged using thedrag mat shown in FIG. 3. The construction of the mat results in twobenefits from the dragging step. First, the drag mat evens out thecoating of sand to provide a uniform coating and breaks up the aerationplugs and distributes the soil therefrom with the sand. Secondly, themat, because of its construction, levels the area treated. This isaccomplished by providing the mat with a hardened steel leading edgeabout ⅜″ square in cross section and extending along the length of thefront edge the mat. This hardened steel bar scrapes off the high pointsin the surface of the area and deposits the scraped-up soil into the lowspots of the area. Soil scraped from high spots tends to flow over theleading edge of the mat and be dispersed through the openings in thechain link mat with the sand and aeration plugs.

It is to be understood that all of the aggregates applied, sand,compost, fertilizer as well as the fungus powder may be applied usingthe equipment described above. In the alternative, some of these may beapplied using conventional manual spreaders if the makes this equipmentmore efficient.

Since many lawn areas have an uneven surface and also include plantedareas which cannot be accessed easily by mechanized spreaders. In theseareas all of the aggregates may be applied and smoothed manually. Also,even in the areas treated mechanically, it is often necessary to fillsmall voids using hand scoops and rake these areas by hand.

The final step in this process is to apply a liberal amount of waterover the treated area. This step feeds the grass roots that neededmoisture and helps in settling the various aggregate applied into auniform aggregate coating.

The following table lays out the steps described above in a graphicalmanner to aid in understanding the method of the invention.

TABLE 2 1 Aeration mechanically breaks up thatch and provides access toroots by aggregates 2 Spread fungus Encourages root growth 3 Spread sandProtect fungus & receive aggregates 4 *Spread compost Add organic matterto soil 5 *Spread fertilizer Enhance growth 6 Drag Spread aggregate andsmooth 7 Scoop Fill open spots 8 Rake Distribute and smooth scoops*denotes optional step

Thus it can be seen that there is herein described unique apparatus fordelivering and dispensing soil aggregates and a unique method ofcombining combinations of these aggregates in a specified order thatwill have a maximum effect in lawn improvement.

1. A method of improving turf conditions to improve plant growth over aspecified area of soil, using a mechanized aerator unit, comprising thesteps of: cleaning the mechanized aerator unit; aerating the soil of thespecified area by punching uniform holes of a given diameter, depth andrelative spacing in a uniform pattern in the specified area using themechanized aerator unit, said diameter, depth and relative spacing beinga function of the soil condition; applying a selected granular aggregateover the specified area to at least partially fill the aerating uniformholes using a vehicle which dispenses the selected granular aggregateuniformly; applying soil amendments over the selected area using avehicle which dispenses the soil amendments uniformly; and smoothing theselected area using a drag mat to even the distribution of the appliedselected granular aggregate and cause the surface of the selected areato have a smooth appearance.
 2. The method according to claim 1 andincluding the additional step of moistening the area with water beforeaerating the soil.
 3. The method according to claim 1 wherein thegranular aggregate is sand.
 4. The method according to claim 2 whereinthe soil amendments include compost.
 5. The method according to claim 2wherein the soil amendments include fertilizer.
 6. The method accordingto claim 2 wherein the soil amendments include compost and fertilizer.7. The method according to claim 1 wherein a mycorrhizal fungus isapplied before the application of the granular aggregate.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the soil condition comprises one of: heavyclay—clean; heavy clay—sandy; sandy loam; sand; loam; topsoil—clean; allsoils—containing rock; and all soils—lightly compacted.